The Senate has threatened to suspend approval of budgets of all Federal Government statutory corporations, commissions, authorities and agencies that fail to submit their annual accounts and audited reports to the Office of Auditor-General of the Federation.
The upper legislative chamber revealed that in the last one year, all federal agencies have violated the provisions of Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution which mandates them to send their audited accounts to the Auditor-General for onward submission to the National Assembly.
Chairman, Senate Public Accounts Committee, Matthew Urhoghide, stated this in an interview with journalists on Wednesday.
This comes as the committee has assured that the 59-year-old legislation currently governing the Auditor-General’s Office is repealed before December 31, 2017.
Speaking on the status of parastatals submission of audited accounts, he said: “The last report submitted by the Auditor-General for the Federation is for the year ended 31st December, 2015. The submission of the 2016 Annual Report is already due. The Committee is therefore, calling on the Auditor-General for the Federation to immediately submit the report.
“Information from the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation shows that all Federal Government’s statutory Corporations, Commissions, Authorities and Agencies are not up-to-date with the submission of their annual accounts and audited reports to the Office of Auditor-General for the Federation as specified by Section 85(3) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They have therefore violated the provisions of Section 85 3 of the constitution the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“This Committee will ensure that all the Parastatals comply with the constitutional provision of submission of their annual reports and audited accounts to the office of the Auditor-General for the Federation promptly. In fact the Committee has concluded plans to publish their names in the mass media. From now on, appropriate sanctions shall be applied. The Committee will further recommend to the Senate to suspend approval of the budget of the defaulting Agencies until they comply”.
The panel, he said, relies mainly on the Annual Report of the Auditor-General for the Federation for checking possible embezzlement, misuse, misapplication, wastage and losses of public funds and
resources.
The legislator assured that the committee would ensure that work on the Federal Audit Service Commission Bill, which is currently before it, is concluded before the end of December this year.
Currently, the law governing the Auditor-General’s Office is the Audit Ordinance Act of 1958.
He announced that in its bid to expose inefficiency, waste and ineffectiveness in the management of public funds, the Committee will conduct status inquiry on the revenue generation and expenditure of MDAs as appropriated by the National Assembly.
This, he said, will ensure that the Appropriation Act is implemented as specified in the Act.
Of all the 69 standing committees in the upper legislative chamber, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is the only committee listed in the 1999 Constitution, charged with the responsibility of ensuring compliance with rules, regulations and laws governing pubiic expenditure by courts, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAS) of the Federal Government.
